Instrument control means



,Feb. 10, 1931. x c. A. BROKAW INSTRUMENT CONTROL MEANS Filed Feb. 28, 1930 Inventor: Charles A Brokaw, y W m Hts Attorney are suitable contro l- Patented Feb. 10, 1931 V mamas A. nrioxaw,ror soorraannw yonn-hssrenoa ToGENEitAL nLEcTRrc ooivI- PANY, A ooRroBArroN-or-miwYORK ms'rnunnnrlooiimot MEANS Application fi earsbr argr aaisao, serial ama:

The present invention relates to instrument control means of the type adapted to provide control handles for instrumentcontrol shafts'and the like, beoperated manually. Means of this chata'cterare-well known, particularly in connection with radio receiving apparatus, being provided thereon as control knobs or'handles for the control and the tuning shafts thereof.

Theobject ofithe present invention is to provide an improved means of the above character V which is particularly adapted for use onair craft radio instruments and the like to facilitateaccurate manual control of r the '1 various elements toibe controlled, suchas the tuning elements, in the close quarters of an air craft and'in the presence of vibration, and

- tolrpermit very fine and accurate. control of such elements by the hand under the above or other' adverse' conditions, even while'lthe 1 hand: is gloved or otherwise coveredasin air travelu iTheinvention will bebetter understoodfrom thie following 1 description, when con siderediin connection with the accompanying drawings, and its scope will be pointed out inthe'appe nde d claims. 1 p t ,l In the'drawing, Figilis a' front yiew of an instrument provided with control means embodyingfthe inventionfFig. 2" is a View in perspective, an d:on a larger scale, of themstrument offzFig'll with the casing broken away toshow-certain details of the control means; andFig. 3 is a cross sectionalview of the 831118 andon the same scale showing further details of construction. Referring to the drawing,'5 is aninstru ment casing of the type adapted to contain an aircraft receiver and since it is subject to vibration, is provided with flexible mounting supports 6 adapted to be attached toa portionjofthe aircraft. On one of its faces 7 ,which in the present example'is the lower 'fa'ce or bottom wall of the casing, itispro yidedwith flexible electrical cables 8' thro-iigh which electrical connectionis made with'the apparatus within the casing. Mounted; on-

another lface 9 of. the 1 casing, which .in:- the present example is the; front panel I or wall,

features representedaby whereby the latter may knobs 11' together with 12;: The dial 10 is C011-' a 'dia-l lO and control an indicating device nected with a tuning control device 13 3 through the medium ofa shaft 14, and serves to indicate the positionot the tuning control device: v V

The ahovedescrlbedinstrument represents any "instrument-hayingoperating"control nieans such has the [dial and the tuning. de- V1C8 requiring accurate manual adjustment or'control; As is common with such devices,

thedrive-shaft 14min turn'driyenby a suitably located control shaft l5 connected therewith thr ou gh the medium of a gearing 16 the latter representing any suitable means for connecting the control shaft'll with the driv} ing meansforthe tunin'g devicel8.

controlshaft 15 projects through the panel or IWallf9 of the easing -adjacent' the dial and adjacent one. panel QWhichiis cylindrical"in' form" V j adapted to be grasped anjd"turnedhy the fiiigers' of tliehand of an operator. The

edge oftlie wall or knob is: secured to the ishaft? by any is liitable means such as ascrew 18 whereby-when the and is provided with a control knob 17 I a, andvofa size knob istiirned the controlshaft 1 5fis turned which in the present example is substantially at a right angle, wthe wall or panel 9, and is acent Wall 7 ofthe casing e xtndsat angle,

the' control shaft 15, as' shown moreclearly iii-Fig. 3; Walls 7 and 9 of the V casing represent any two walls ofLan instrum ent casing which areadjacent andwhich liein planes intersecting each other, and the "oontrol shaft 15 represents any control shaft of aninstrument which extends along and adjacent one of said'walls'within the casing and through the other of said walls to a point outside o fjthe casing." 7

,Mounted on and secured to the control shaft onthe opposite side of the wall 9 and within-the casing is an annular control meme her in the form ot a discor knob 19 having a serrated peripheral "surface 20 adapted to beturned by tangentialmovement ofabody suchastavgloved hand lIl,COI1t2ICt with its edge." a The disc 19. is arranged coaxially; with th knob;- 110m, the sontrol: hatb. 1.8, v and, i

- casing and up'on'the samez shaft whereby they rotate coaxially with respect 'to'each other. The diameter of the control knob is such that it may be turned easily to relatively rapidly rotate the control shaft whilethe that of the control knob, whereby a greater leverage is applied to' the control, shaft b applyingza moving forceto its periphery. t is also of such a diameter that it projects through the other and, adjacent wall of the casing into a position wherein it may be included in the. graspof the hand of an operator at the same time with the control knob 17 lVith this arrangement, a control is provided through the medium of, a smaller diameter knob on one face of the apparatus casing and a large 7 milled or. serrated periphery projecting through another face or wallof the casing, both theknob and the disc being mounted upon the same control shaft of the instrument. The control shaftis in turn'connected in any suitable manner, preferably through a 7 operator ;-mayspeed i'eduction'means with thel driying means for thede-vice to be controlled,

. J Th small ik ob i may b tu n d in he usual manner to control the device 9 or tuning means through the medium of the, -con-- trol shaft 15-, or the larger diameterdisc may be turned by engag ng it with the handand movingthe same ceivers since it permits the operator to tune bring ng the; gloved hand between limits represented by {the radius'lor diameter of the flknob and of the "disc, The exert more pressure on T the knob; to turn the tuningtcontrol shaftwith ttidfifil'asfid leverage "represented hy'the dius orsdiameter of theaknofbfor-with-an increaseddeverage rand =-with an increased nernier action J represented ihythe .radiuszor diameter eff thefidisc; .rltdlaasbeenfeiindsthat w this double or dualcnntrolfarrangelnentfperi' shaft within I .panel and projecting radially from the shaft diameter of the control disc 191s larger than diameter disc 7 having tangentially of, the disc, 7 This is particularly tusefulin airplane re-z m unted inn -end' secureditothe sxte. "pMje Btlng Iend jof' the shaft -=adjaeent; the

mits the receiver to be accurately tuned even,

though it is vibrating-when the airplane in which it is installed is traveling at high speeds.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

.1. Th e combination with an instrument edge thereof, a'contio'l knobmounted on saidshaft adjacent to and on the. face of the panel, a second control knob mounted on said the casing at the rear of the 7 control-shaft which passes through said panel adjacent one edge of it, meansfor'imanually rotating said shafti secured thereto on one side of the panehia second :meansfor man uall-y rotating the-shaft-s'ecured thereto, on the opposite side of the paneL-saicl secondnamed means/being arranged to: present; an

annular. serrated surface" beyond, the edge of the panel wherehya itmay. lee-includedin the grasp ofone-handalongwithfthe firstnamed means, l V

- .3. The .-combination with an instrument casing having-acontrol panel and aiwall Jad= acent and 'atan-angle to the panel, 'ofa control shaft which passes'throughi said panel, a control knob mounted on said shaft adjacent the panel and outside the casing,-an annular controlmember' mounted' onlthe: shaft adj acent the :paneland-within theiicasing',

said'niemberbeing coaxial Withtheshaftand -I= having alradius suchthat' it extends through he wall and presentsia peripheral edge-adja cent said 'knob aex'teriorly of a the casing.

-- 4. The combination with an instrument panel and aicontrol shaft extendingthrough J- said panel,- of means' for manually rotating said shaft, saidameans including two spaced manually rotatable member mounted on: and secured to said shaft-,one on each sideof the panehgone of said-members being adapted to be grasped and-turned bythe fingers and the other of'sald members beingeofa larger diameter: and presenting a peripheral edge adapted to be turnediby tangentialvmove merit of ahody': such as a'g lovedh'and in contact' withsaid-edge. I

5.1 The combination with an instrument casing having 'two adjacent exterior walls which lie in intersecting planes; of a; rotate b1gshaft whichextends within thescasing substantially parallel-.to'iand adj acentsonehf saidwalls and g-projects: .at :On'ei enda throngh the otherwali egternal lyiof thefcasi i l' .a-

casing including a panel, of a control shaft pro]ect1ng through the panel adjacent one casing, and a second knob mounted on the shaft Within the casing and adjacent the Wall through which the shaft projects whereby said knobs are separated by said Wall, said second knob beingof a larger diameter than the first-named knob whereby it projects through the planeof the other Wall and exportion of its periphery adjacent poses a the first-named knob for operation of the shaft. l

6. The combination with an instrument casing having two adjacent external faces at an angle to each other, of an instrument control means including a knob arranged to rotate in a plane substantially parallel to and adjacent one face of thecasing, and a disc arranged to rotate at an angle to the other face of the casing Witha portion of the peripheral edge of other face and said knob whereby both the periphery of the disc and the knobf may at the same time beinoluded in the grasp of one hand for simultaneous manual operation,

and an instrument control shaft arranged to Q connect and provldea common axis of rotation for both said disc and said knob.

. In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 27th day of February, 1930.

7 CHARLES A. BROKAW.

the disc projecting through said face of the vcasing adjacent the 

